Many modern day sporting and military firearms employ a breech closing bolt which has a reciprocating movement in opening and closing the breech and which may be locked in the closed position by any applicable suitable method.
Historically, firearm safeties have functions under one or two basic concepts, e.g. (1) blockage of the firing pin striker assembly, or (2) blockage of the trigger or sear on trigger mechanism safeties.
A suitable fire control for most firearms provides for a readily operable means for locking the firing pin positively in a "Safe" position, as well as a trigger controlled sear to permit the instant release of the firing pin when it is desired to fire or discharge the projectile from the weapon see for example U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,981. To this end it has been found to be essential that the safety device be so arranged that an inadvertent operation of the trigger while the safety is in "Safe" position will not condition the firearm to fire upon the release of the safety. It has also been further determined that a safety device should be capable of being actuated to allow release and rotation of the breach bolt assembly while in the "Safe" position where the sear or trigger mechanism is locked, preventing the firearm from firing, so that such firearm might be rendered free of its cartridges and/or the removal of the bolt assembly from the action, thus further enhancing the handling and storage safety of the firearm.
It is contemplated that these objects may be best attained by mounting on the receiver a trigger housing having two members which prevent movement of the firing pin. One of the members may be conveniently identified as a safety inner arm and the other the sear. A safety lever is arranged to move the safety and the inner arm to prohibit sear movement arranged to prevent movement of the sear. Controlling the movement of the sear through these members enables the firing pin to operate.